This invention relates to the field of gas furnaces, and in particular, to a media filter cabinet used in a furnace.
Many commercially made and custom made filter cabinets are available as accessories for hot air gas furnaces. Some furnaces come with built-in filter cabinets. Up until recently, all filters were of the standard xcx9c1xe2x80x3 wide size. With increases in filter technology, wider filters have become commercially available with filters of up to 5xe2x80x3 wide. Such wide high-efficiency type air filters are known as xe2x80x9cmediaxe2x80x9d filters because they use a variety of filtering media instead of just one filtering medium to filter the air passing through them. Once a filter cabinet of a particular size is installed, there is no way of reconfiguring the filter cabinet to take a different size filter. A need therefore exists for a filter cabinet which can accept or be easily modified to accept different size filters.
Briefly stated, a media filter cabinet for a gas furnace is sized to accept a high-efficiency media filter while being easily adaptable to accept a standard size filter. A perforated duct flange on one side of the cabinet permits ease of installation since the flange can be bent at 90 or 180 degrees along the perforations, or removed, depending on the type of duct the cabinet is installed with. The cabinet is adapted to fit a standard filter by using a removable bracket and a wire to retain the standard filter within the cabinet. With the removal of a front door and a back side of the cabinet, the cabinet collapses to diminish its shipping size. In one embodiment, the cabinet is in kit form which is easily assembled.
According to an embodiment of the invention, a media filter cabinet for a furnace includes a bottom side connected at a first end to a back side which in turn is connected to a top side; first and second front supports connecting a second end of the bottom side to the top side; a door removably connected across the two front supports; a right side connecting to the top side, the bottom side, the back side, and the first front support; a left side connecting to the top side, the bottom side, the back side, and the second front support; the right side having an opening therein defined by a perforated duct flange; the left side having an opening therein; retaining means for retaining a standard size filter in the cabinet; a width of the cabinet being sized to fit a high-efficiency media filter; and a distance between the retaining means and the left side of the cabinet being sized to fit a standard filter.
According to an embodiment of the invention, a media filter cabinet kit includes a front piece, the front piece including a plurality of slots and a plurality of tabs; a top piece, the top piece including a plurality of slots and a plurality of tabs, wherein the plurality of tabs of the top piece are fittable within the plurality of slots in the front piece and the plurality of tabs in the front piece are fittable within the plurality of slots in the top piece; a back piece, the back piece including a plurality of slots and a plurality of tabs, wherein the plurality of tabs of the back piece are fittable within the plurality of slots in the front piece and the plurality of tabs in the front piece are fittable within the plurality of slots in the back piece; and a bottom piece, the bottom piece including a plurality of slots and a plurality of tabs, wherein the plurality of tabs of the bottom piece are fittable within the plurality of slots in the front piece and the back piece, and the plurality of tabs in the front and back pieces are fittable within the plurality of slots in the bottom piece.